- Aug 1, 2014
- 14
- 0
- 10,510
I'm looking for a Z97 motherboard, but I'm having trouble deciding (I thought picking a CPU and GPU was hard, but this is just insane). I'm thinking about going for a Gigabyte mobo because my cousin told me they were very reliable and I've pretty much read the same online (with some people saying that you should avoid Asus, as they make good boards, but there's a bigger chance of problems popping up after a few years).
These are a few I found that got some good reviews (if you have suggestions of your own, feel free to share, but please keep the price between 100 and 200~210.):
ASROCK Z97 Extreme4 - €135
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 - €140
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 - €160
ASROCK Z97 Extreme6 - €170
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD5H - €175
ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO - €190
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD5H Black - €210
GIGABYTE Z97X-SOC Force - €210
What I need:
- ATX
- Socket 1150
- Four memory slots with each slot being able to handle 8Gb of RAM.
- Able to handle overclocking. Not entirely sure if I'm going to OC, but I'd like the option.
- Durability. I want something I can count on.
- Room for my CPU cooler (preferably without it blocking any slots).
What would be a nice extra (but not a necessity):
- DVI (For my Cintiq.)
- An old standard 32bit PCI (So I can recycle the wireless network adaptor from my old PC.)
What I don't need:
- Looks. I don't care about color or design. I mean, I care about design, but in the "form follows function" kind of way, I don't need a motherboard that can light up for no reason (Maximus? SOC Force?).
- Overkill. I don't think I'll need a motherboard with more than four memory slots that can handle a total of 64Gb RAM. Or dual sockets. Or 6+ SATA support.
This is the rest of the build:
i7 4790k - €305
Nvidia GTX 770 - €290
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 16Gb Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit - €150
Samsung 250Gb SSD - €115
WD 1000Gb HDD - €60
Scythe Mugen 4 - €40 or Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo - €35
Cheap Optical Drive - €20
Windows 8.1 Pro - €60
Power supply - not sure, currently checking the "The Power Supply Unit tier list".
Case - I'm probably gonna start another thread for that as soon as I decide on a motherboard.
I will be using it a little bit for gaming (though not exactly the Battlefield 4 type of games, more like Race The Sun and Hotline Miami) and mostly ZBrush, 3DS Max, most of the Adobe programs, Visual Studio, Substance Painter, Unity and the Unreal Development Kit (which is why I'm still making a build focused on gaming and not a Quadro machine purely for rendering).
These are a few I found that got some good reviews (if you have suggestions of your own, feel free to share, but please keep the price between 100 and 200~210.):
ASROCK Z97 Extreme4 - €135
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 - €140
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 - €160
ASROCK Z97 Extreme6 - €170
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD5H - €175
ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO - €190
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD5H Black - €210
GIGABYTE Z97X-SOC Force - €210
What I need:
- ATX
- Socket 1150
- Four memory slots with each slot being able to handle 8Gb of RAM.
- Able to handle overclocking. Not entirely sure if I'm going to OC, but I'd like the option.
- Durability. I want something I can count on.
- Room for my CPU cooler (preferably without it blocking any slots).
What would be a nice extra (but not a necessity):
- DVI (For my Cintiq.)
- An old standard 32bit PCI (So I can recycle the wireless network adaptor from my old PC.)
What I don't need:
- Looks. I don't care about color or design. I mean, I care about design, but in the "form follows function" kind of way, I don't need a motherboard that can light up for no reason (Maximus? SOC Force?).
- Overkill. I don't think I'll need a motherboard with more than four memory slots that can handle a total of 64Gb RAM. Or dual sockets. Or 6+ SATA support.
This is the rest of the build:
i7 4790k - €305
Nvidia GTX 770 - €290
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 16Gb Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit - €150
Samsung 250Gb SSD - €115
WD 1000Gb HDD - €60
Scythe Mugen 4 - €40 or Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo - €35
Cheap Optical Drive - €20
Windows 8.1 Pro - €60
Power supply - not sure, currently checking the "The Power Supply Unit tier list".
Case - I'm probably gonna start another thread for that as soon as I decide on a motherboard.
I will be using it a little bit for gaming (though not exactly the Battlefield 4 type of games, more like Race The Sun and Hotline Miami) and mostly ZBrush, 3DS Max, most of the Adobe programs, Visual Studio, Substance Painter, Unity and the Unreal Development Kit (which is why I'm still making a build focused on gaming and not a Quadro machine purely for rendering).
)
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram